Social Media Optimization (SMO) is the next wave of online marketing and the perfect blend between search engine optimization (SEO) and social media. In the present age of science and technology, a business cannot exist without addressing the issues of online visibility and customer engagement. That’s why SMO comes in picture. The concept behind SMO is simple- execute changes to optimize a site so that users can more easily link to it, it’s more visible in social media searches on search engines and more frequently included in relevant posts on blogs, vlogs and podcasts.

In order to leverage social media optimization to its fullest extent, it is imperative to follow these guidelines:

Improve Your Linkability

This is of paramount importance for websites. Many websites are ‘static’ i.e. they are rarely updated and used mainly as a storefront. To optimize a site for social media, you need to increase the linkability of the content. To do this, posting a blog is a great move but there are many other ways like creating white papers and thought pieces or simply accumulating content that exists elsewhere into a useful format.

Make Tagging and Bookmarking Easy

Adding content features such as quick buttons is one way of making the process of tagging pages easier. However, you should make sure that pages include a list of relevant tags and suggested notes for a link. Also, make sure to tag your pages on popular social bookmarking sites so that more number of people get to know about it.

Reward Inbound Links

Frequently used as a measure of success of a blog as well as a website, inbound links play an important role in increase in search results and overall rankings. To encourage more such links, you need to make it simple and provide rewards. Whether it’s using Permalinks or recreating Similarly, listing recent linking blogs on your site provides the reward of visibility for users who link to your site.

Improve Your Content’s Reach

SMO is not just about making changes to a site, like SEO is. If you have content that is portable (such as PDFs, audio files and video files), submit it to relevant sites. It will help your content reach farther and drive links back to your site.

Encourage the Mashup

If you let others use your content (with discretion), it’ll reap monetary benefits. You Tube’s idea of providing code to copy and paste the required URL to allow users to imbed videos from their site has enhanced their growth. Syndicating your content through RSS enables others to create mashups that can drive traffic or transfer your content.

Be a User Resource

Give value to users including outbound links to areas that could help them with their objectives. If you link to competitors, you get to become the community’s first source of information finding. How will this facilitate SMO? It will because people will link to your social site and the number of tags will increase eventually. Hence, your site will show up more in search engine results.

Reward Valuable Users

Come up with ways to reward the loyal users of your site as they can be the potential ‘influencers’. For instance, promote their work on the site’s homepage, develop a rating system, send them an appreciation mail or note privately etc. It will keep the most valuable users engaged with your site.

Participate In Conversations

Join the conversation. By conversing with the users, you are creating awareness and prolonging the buzz. It will keep the users intrigued. Furthermore, participation will help your message spread further and faster.

Identify Your Target

If you want everyone to use your product, you need a reality check. There will always be a certain audience that you can target, appeal and cater to. So, it is wise to invest your time and energy in those sections of masses only.

Create Content

There are certain kinds of content that naturally spread socially. Regardless of what industry you belong to and what products you sell, there is always some kind of content that can be created for it. Whether it’s creating widgets, making people laugh or writing a white paper, it is achievable. Determine the type of content that is appropriate for your line of work and create it.

Conclusion

Effective marketing is not merely about the platform, it’s more about the idea. A social media platform is just an enabler and how you leverage it makes all the difference. If used effectively social media can prove to be one of the greatest assets for enhancing your site’s organic search results. Connecting with people through various online platforms can extend the reach of your business. Social media optimization helps connect all of your social media accounts through a cohesive and consistent network that takes your potential customers where you want them to go. SMO Pros employs a strategic, multi-point process to build your successful SMO foundation, boost your SEO, and drive more potential customers to your site. Certainly, SMO is here to stay.